Red Sox need to do something sooner rather than later

This offseason has been one of the slowest I can remember. The only moves the Red Sox have made are re-signing Mitch Moreland and avoiding arbitration with pitchers Steven Wright and Carson Smith. But, the Red Sox need to make some sort of bigger move. And it needs to be made sooner, rather than later.

J.D. Martinez is the big name that we keep hearing linked with the Red Sox. To begin the offseason, the Red Sox were the favorites and didn’t seem to have any other contenders to sign him. The Sox are still probably the favorites to sign J.D. Martinez, but they reportedly have some competition.

Last week, the Red Sox reportedly offered Martinez a five-year deal, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. This may sound good. You are probably thinking, “Wow, the Red Sox actually did something!” Well, now that it is known that the Red Sox offered the free agent slugger a five-year deal, other teams now know that Martinez is not accepting a five-year deal. This increases the chances that a team can come in and add one more year to that deal and get J.D. Martinez.

Dave Dombrowski could have offered J.D. Martinez a “take it or leave it” type of deal, thinking that the Red Sox were the only team in the running for the free agent. A team could then come in and give Martinez what he wants, which is a long-term contract.

The Red Sox were smart for waiting it out, but now that every team knows that they offered the five-year deal and Martinez isn’t accepting, they need to work this thing out and sign Martinez.

If the Red Sox don’t sign Martinez, what are they going to do? I know I have said this in my last 10 blogs, but the Red Sox need a power bat in their lineup. If they want to compete with the Yankees, they have to do something to improve their lineup.

The Red Sox have a short two-year window where they have to win a World Series. After two years, a lot of guys’ contracts will expire and will want a lot more money. If we don’t sign a big bat, we will be wasting one more year of that window. The Red Sox have to act fast.

I’m hoping that the Red Sox do something this week, but I doubt we will get anything done. They are running out of time and need to do something sooner, rather than later.